Despite constraints like ongoing construction activity for medical college in its campus, the Doon hospital has shown an appreciable increase in the number of patients served in the year 2014-15 as compared to last year. The Principal Medical Superintendent (PMS) of Dr RS Aswal told media persons at his office on Monday that the hospital served 69,533 more patients in the year 2014-15 than last year.
He informed that 5,30,607 new patients visited the OPDs of hospital from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 as compared with 4,90,065 patients visited in the corresponding period last year. Similarly the hospital registered an increase of 919 admitted patients in the year. The increase in the number of patients served is also reflected in the earning of the hospital as the user charge collections rose to Rs4,86,85,618 this year which is Rs88,65,878 more than last year’s collection.
The radiology department of the hospital witnessed an increase of 15,462 in number of total X-rays done; the PMS attributed this to increased efficiency of the digital machine introduced this year. The surgeons of the hospital performed 65 and 582 more major and minor operations respectively in the financial year which ended on March 31. The pathologists of Doon hospital performed 3,00,959 tests in the year much higher than 2,56,982 last year. While most of the departments of Doon hospital registered an increment in number of patients, the department of orthopedics registered a decline in the number of major and minor operations.
Dr Aswal attributed it to retirement of Dr DC Nautiyal who was very famous among the patients. The PMS claimed that despite serving more patients 840 patients died in the hospital which is 57 less than last year. He, however, accepted that due to less remunerations offered by the State Government, the super specialists needed by the hospital are not joining duties in the hospital. The hospital needs the specialist like Neurophysician, Gastroenterologist, nephrologist, urologist and endocrinologist but the State Government’s offer of Rs75,000 per month was not accepted by the doctors.
The senior Pediatrician of Doon hospital Dr NS Khatri informed that 1,500 school children were registered under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram from different parts of the state out of which the hospital referred 157 cases to hospitals like Fortis, HIHT and Max. He said that these tertiary care centres treated 87 children suffering cardiac and other major complications.